Melancholy Kaleidescope | PJO

Ch. 7: Oh Brother

The stateroom was beautiful, and it was horrible.

The beautiful part of the room were the huge windows that curved along the back wall and overlooked the stern of the ship. Green sea and blue sky stretched out as far as the eye could see, and a Persian rug covered the floor. There were two plush sofas in the middle of the room with a canopied bed in one corner and a mahogany table in the other. The table was loaded with food and drink that would have drawn Jinora near if it weren't for the person standing before them.

The horrible part: in the back of the room was a ten-foot-long golden casket. A sarcophagus engraved with Ancient Greek scenes of cities in flames and heroes dying grisly deaths. Despite the sunlight streaming through the windows, the casket brought a chill to the room.

Icing on the cake? In the back corner of the room, standing half in the shadows, was Monty. Jinora's eyes widened momentarily when the two made eye contact, and there was an unfamiliar flash that went through Monty's eyes. Panic? Regret?

"Well," Luke said, spreading his arms proudly, drawing her attention away from the older girl behind him. "A little nicer than Cabin Eleven, huh? How is camp doing, anyway?"

"Camp's fine," Jinora responded coldly. "How's your shoulder?"

Luke's proud smile faltered as he flexed his shoulder. It was barely noticeable, but Jinora caught it.

Luke really hadn't changed much since the previous summer. He'd swapped out his Bermuda shorts and camp t-shirt for a button-down shirt, khaki pants, and leather loafers. His brown hair, which used to be so unruly before, had now been clipped short.

He still had the scar under his eye, and seeing it made her own tingle. She'd grown so used to the white horizontal line of slightly raised skin on her cheek that she often didn't notice it when she went to the shower house in the morning. She resisted the urge to reach up and itch her scar.

Propped up against the sofa was his magical sword, Backbiter. It had an odd glint that came from its half-steel, half-Celestial bronze blade that could maim or kill both mortals and monsters.

"Sit," he told them, letting Jinora's comment pass over him. He waved his hand and four dining chairs scooted themselves to the center of the room. Regardless, none of them sat.

Luke's large friends were still holding the points of their javelins at their chests. They looked like twins, but they weren't human. They were eight feet tall and looked like a sloppy animal-human hybrid. The only clothes they wore were blue jeans, probably because that was the only part of their bodies that they could get clothes to fit on. They had claws instead of fingernails and feet like paws, with pointed canines for teeth.

"Where are my manners," he smooth-talked, motioning to the javelin wielders. "These are my assistants, Agrius and Oreius. Perhaps you've heard of them."

Jinora had heard of them. She'd heard of them from Luke. She didn't say anything, though. Despite the javelins pointed at her, it wasn't the bear twins who scared her.

She'd imagined running into Luke again many times since his attempt to kill Percy last summer. She had imagined standing up to him with boldness and ready to strike him down. Jinora was embarrassed to admit that nearly all that courage had drained out of her upon seeing him again.

"You don't know their story," Luke asked, looking at Percy who kept a straight face, though his hands had a slight tremor. "Their mother...well, it's sad, really. Aphrodite ordered the young woman to fall in love. She refused and ran to Artemis for help. Artemis let her become one of her maiden huntresses, but Aphrodite got her revenge. She bewitched the young woman into falling in love with a bear. When Artemis found out, she abandoned the girl in disgust. Typical of the gods, wouldn't you say?" Jinora clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. "They fight with one another, and the poor humans get caught in the middle. The girl's twin sons here, Agrius and Oreius, have no love for Olympus. They like half-bloods well enough, though..."